Coffee and Rum

Hi -

We will be at CTI for the first time in a couple of weeks. We want to buy Rum and Coffee to bring back. Any suggestions? Are there other brands of rum other than Appleton's that are interesting and would make good gifts? What about Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee - any suggestions would be great!

Buy the rum at the airport - and definitely try the rum cream before you leave so you can stock up if you love it! (Nutty Jamaican = 3 parts rum cream, 1 part frangelico - try it!) Found the best coconut rum in Jamaica - brand is Coco Mania, relatively inexpensive but much better than the coconut rum I've had in the US, in my opinion.

Appletons is the rum of Jamaica. It is very good! There is the special reserve that can actually be used as an aperitif.

There are a couple different brands of Blue Mountain Coffee. First of all, make sure you buy the one with the government seal on the label. To be true blue mountain coffee it must contain the seal otherwise it is High Mountain Coffee and is not nearly as good. Wallenford and JaBlum come to mind for Blue Mountain Coffee. There is a third, but the name escapes me. We prefer Wallenford while others love JaBlum.

Both can be purchased on the shopping trip that CTI offers or you can wait until you reach the airport and get some before leaving the island. The resort also carries both if you don't want to go off property. Do remember if you are purchasing at the airport that if you have a connecting flight, you will need to put the rum into your checked luggage as liquids are not allowed as carry-ons.

I've tried a few Jamaican rums and many Caribbean rums. While there are some interesting flavors, styles and intensities of rum out there, my personal taste leans heavily on Appleton... but that's just me. Over our last couple of visits to SweptAway, one of the great perks of being a repeater is the rum tasting that they put on at the repeaters' dinner, featuring rums from all over the Caribbean.

The great thing about Appleton is its accessibility. Their White, Special, and VX offerings have been available here in the US for years. Recently, the importer contracted to market Appleton in the US has begun to push Appleton's Extra offering, available at the duty free in MoBay for about US$18, but at $30 for 750 ml in country is a bargain.

As for coffee, watch for the "100% Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee" designation. Again personally, I don't buy coffee beans in ziplock bags on the beach. There are a couple of good roasters in the Negril area, but their green beans might not be the "real deal"; which is ok as long as they don't market the stuff as true Blue.

By the way, webejammin's got a great idea... try the Sangster's Rum Cream while you're on resort... it'll change your life! And there are several flavors available.

Rum

there is no better place in the world to buy RUM than JA.....you can not go wrong with appleton 12 year is great at a good price.....at the airport you can get Blackwell RUM 33us$, it's sweet and dark and cost 85 bucks in the U.S.....if you can fine it....and if you are going to bring a bottle home for me then please make it EDWIN CHARLEY.....virtue.or.transformation,only one dutyfree at the airport has it,its in there window....if I win lotto i could buy my own (LOL)...thanks.

We brought back and declared about 6 liters (!) of rum and rum cream recently. The immigration/customs guy just waved us through.

It might have helped that we had bought it earlier in the week at the Appleton Estate rather than at the duty free store, so it was already packed in the luggage (instead of being lugged where it could be so obvious!)

Just be sure to declare it; the duties can't be that high (I do know the rum cream has a lower rate than the straight rum), and it's a lot less than having it confiscated or being detained while ICE wonders what else you've brought back!

Just keep in mind that there is a chance you won't have time at the airport. This happened to us one year. Typically, we buy our rum, rum cream and coffee at the airport because it's so much cheaper. But one year, the line was so long at check-in, we made it to the gate as they were boarding so we came back empty handed. You can always buy a few small bottles at the hotel gift shop, just in case this happens. One thing we like to bring back as gifts are the flavored rum creams (banana, coffee, etc.). These are a big hit. Have fun!

Oh, the cost of coffee at CSA varies depending on the size of the bag, and whole bean versus ground.